If you helped pay for Nicholls rec center, you can use it

Saturday

THIBODAUX -- When Jacob Daigle enrolled at Nicholls State University in fall 2003, his first bill came with a $74.25 charge that students before him had never seen.

Students voted in favor of paying the fee starting that fall, and he and his peers paid each semester thereafter for a recreation center that existed only in the minds of its designers.

A stalled property deal put a three-year hiatus on the building’s progress until a $4.5 million agreement was struck Thursday, but meanwhile the students kept paying -- $4.3 million as of June 30.

However, after a lengthy wait that will continue for an undetermined amount of time, students who were enrolled at the university at some point during the billing will be given the opportunity to use the recreation center at no charge for as many semesters as they were billed, said Michael Davis, assistant vice president for administration at Nicholls.

But that might not work for everyone, Daigle said.

"I might still be in Thibodaux, but there’s a lot of people who go to Nicholls who come from out of state," Daigle said.

"Those people won’t be able to use it. Up until now, they weren’t even sure if they could buy the land. I think they should have waited until they knew they had the land for sure before they charged," said Kyle Carrier, a senior mass-communication major at Nicholls.

Unfortunately for people who have relocated, the fee is a standard practice used by public entities nationwide to pay for facilities, such as the recreation center, that can’t be paid for by state or federal money, said Eugene Dial, Nicholls’ vice president of student affairs and enrollment services.

"The same thing happens, not just at Nicholls, where students voted to build themselves a Student Union, but in a society where you pay taxes," he said.

The assessment yielded roughly $450,000 per semester, Dial said, eventually accumulating $4.3 million as of June 30 to go toward the recreation center that Davis expects to cost roughly $21.3 million. Students enrolled at Nicholls will continue to be billed the $74.25 fee for roughly 25 more years, Dial said.

For the students who footed the bill and will never have the opportunity use the center, their payments may yield different rewards.

"It’s a huge selling tool for us and athletics in general," Nicholls State football coach Jay Thomas said, suggesting the recreation center could improve recruiting and in turn boost the strength of Nicholls’ athletic programs. "We’re not going to be that little sleepy school on the bayou anymore."

Thomas added that the recreation center would be comparable to or better than other state universities of Nicholls’ size.

"It think it will help draw people to the campus," Carrier said. "It will make the university more presentable and help with enrollment."

As enrollment increases, higher academic standards should follow suit. In response to increased enrollment, Nicholls added minimum requirements to its admission process two years ago. Previously, the school required no more than a high-school degree but now demands accepted students meet SAT, GPA, class-rank and core-curriculum requirements.

"With the recreation center, you can have basketball leagues and a lot of recreational activity beyond the intramural sports. The sad thing about it is it was so long in coming -- four years since students passed the resolution," said Paul Leslie, an American history professor at Nicholls.

Broderick Cole, a senior fullback on Nicholls’ football team, sees it as a welcome addition to the campus and said he plans to use the center regularly. He foresees it being a popular hangout on weeknights and weekends, when on-campus activities were previously limited.

"I’m excited to see anything on the plus side for Nicholls. I want everybody to enjoy their time as much as possible. I know with all the stuff implemented recently, they will have a good time," said Cole, who is also the vice president of the Student Athletic Academic Committee.

It is still up for debate whether alumni who were not assessed a fee will be given the opportunity to use the recreation center, Davis said.

No timeline has been set, but the 63,000-square-foot center is planned for construction at Bowie Road and Ardoyne Drive. It will feature two basketball courts, a cardiovascular workout area, a weight room, two racquetball courts, locker rooms, aerobic rooms, special youth rooms, an indoor track, wellness center and snack bar.

As part of the same expansion, adjacent to it, at La. 1 and Bowie Road, will be a 39,000-square-foot building for the Chef John Folse Culinary School, which is now housed in Gouaux Hall.

The estimated $21.5 million culinary building, paid for by the state, will include six classrooms, seven specialized kitchens and a student-run restaurant.

Staff Writer Ben Lundin can be reached at 448-7635. Staff Writer Raymond Legendre can be reached at 448-7617.

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